How the Great Barrier Reef can be helped to help repair the damaged reef. AIMS/Neal Cantin, CC BY-ND The Great Barrier Reef is suffering from recent unprecedented coral bleaching events. But the answer to part of its recovery could lie in the reef itself, with a...

HELP repayment arrangements have long term consequences for students and their families. Shutterstock Parliament will resume on October 16, when the Senate will consider the government’s proposed changes to higher education. There has been a lot of discussion about...

About 1% of youths will suffer from chronic fatigue. from www.shutterstock.com Chronic fatigue syndrome involves experiencing a disabling level of fatigue for at least three months, where medical tests fail to show a biological cause. Adults, adolescents, and children...

A Queensland ReachTEL poll, presumably conducted 28 September from a sample of 4000, gave the Liberal National Party (LNP) a 52-48 lead by respondent allocated preferences, a one point gain for the LNP since a June ReachTEL. The next Queensland election must be held...

Chatbots need a personality. But what type? Hadrian/Shutterstock In the future, humans will interact more and more with automated help. Whether it’s smart home hardware or chatbots, digital interfaces and virtual assistants rely on conversation for interaction and...

shutterstock The establishment of a new Australian national space agency was announced by federal minister for education and training, Simon Birmingham, at the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) in Adelaide this past week. The announcement was met with loud...

This is the first article in the series Australia’s place in space, where we’ll explore the strengths and weaknesses, along with the past, present and the future of Australia’s space presence and activities. An independent report into allegations of water theft and...

A few technologies have been created that are at least as good as doctors at diagnosing certain types of disease. from www.shutterstock.com.au In the next few years, you will probably have your first interaction with a medical artificial intelligence (AI) system. The...

Ketogenic diets involve eating mostly fats. from www.shutterstock.com Is a ketogenic diet effective for weight loss? The answer depends on whether it achieves a reduction in total kilojoule intake or not. What is a ketogenic diet? A classical ketogenic diet follows a...

Staying alert and safe on the night shift not only affects workers' health, but the health and safety of the people around them. from www.shutterstock.com Take a nap. But not for long. Eat a meal. No, just eat a snack. This is some of the varied and often...

Could the new invention spell the end of rooftop fans? Christophe Finot/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA Specially designed fluid-filled roof panels can help make air conditioning significantly more efficient, according to new research. These panels work like solar water...

Mosses are sensitive to even minor changes in their living conditions. Sharon Robinson, Author provided Drones are helping scientists check the health of Antarctic mosses, revealing clues on the pace of climate change. The scientists say their method could be used for...

Autism has become a default consideration for any child who struggles socially, behaviourally, or with sensory stimuli. from shutterstock.com The first national guidelines for diagnosing autism were released for public consultation last week. The report by research...

When this is home, bad weather can make a bad situation much worse. Karen McIntyre, Author provided The images of Hurricane Harvey in Texas have shown how extreme weather can rob people of their homes. But what about those who have no home to begin with, or whose...

This article is part of a series on how law enforcement is fighting crime across digital borders. More than one decade ago, the United States government predicted that “technology will soon exist, if it does not already, to make depictions of virtual children look...

We're proposing a panel on academics and journalism at SXSW 2017 at SXSWedu. SXSW At The Conversation, we may not have millions of dollars to publicize our mission, but we do have loyal readers like you, who value our infusion of knowledge and expertise into the...

In Australia, same-sex attracted young people are six times more likely to have suicidal thoughts than their heterosexual peers. from shutterstock.com Australia remains the only English-speaking country in the developed world not to legally recognise same-sex...

Social media posts, such as this image uploaded to Flickr, can be repurposed for reef health monitoring. Sarah Ackerman/Flickr/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY Social media platforms such as Twitter and Instagram could be a rich source of free information for scientists...

Bill Shorten has promised an all-out effort to promote a yes vote, while continuing to attack the ballot. Lukas Coch/AAP The risk of armed conflict between North Korea and the United States has moved a scary step closer in the last few days, with Donald Trump’s...

Rail investments have brought Ballarat, Geelong and other regional centres closer in travel time to Melbourne than many outer suburbs. Tony & Wayne/flickr, CC BY-NC In Sydney and Melbourne, the squeeze is on. Population is booming; house prices are still rising;...

A report released this week by the Australian Council of Social Service has pointed out that many vulnerable households cannot access rooftop solar and efficient appliances, describing the issue as a serious problem. It has provoked controversy. Some have interpreted...

Australia terror probe: Does a surge in airport security help? 3 August 2017 From the section Australia Image copyright Reuters Image caption Passengers in Australia have endured heavy delays at airports this week The uncovering of a suspected plot to bring down a...

Stroke can change forever the life of the sufferer and thus their loved ones. from www.shutterstock.com.au Recent research has shed light on how stroke impacts not only a person’s physical health and well-being, but also their social and mental health. While this may...

On your way home tonight, you might stop at the supermarket to grab some ingredients for the evening meal. If you’re like many shoppers, you’ll pass through the self-service checkout, scan your items, and hurriedly place them in the conveniently waiting thin, grey...

Parents play an important role in when their teenage children start drinking and their drinking patterns as they grow. from www.shutterstock.com Lauren, a 15 year old school student, goes to a party at a friend’s house where the parents have supplied alcohol. She...

We're less able to understand others if we ruminate on our own problems. 胡 卓亨/Unsplash, CC BY-SA Have you ever told a friend experiencing a troubling situation “I know exactly how you feel”? This empathic response is usually driven by a connection we’ve made with...

People with chronic bowel conditions may need to use the toilet 20 to 30 times a day. daveynin/Flickr, CC BY It’s widely recognised that emotions can directly affect stomach function. As early as 1915, influential physiologist Walter Cannon noted that stomach...

Soft Landing recycles the materials of mattresses that otherwise get dumped in landfill. Alan Stanton/flickr, CC BY-SA This is one of a series of articles to coincide with the 2017 Ecocity World Summit in Melbourne. Cities have always been eco(nomic)cities but rarely...

Increasing access to health data and more readily available analytical tools offer some opportunities to tackle the ever-growing rates of obesity. AAP/Dave Hunt A recent episode of ABC TV’s Ask the Doctor pointed to poor urban planning as a major culprit in worsening...

New guidelines being presented to the G20 this weekend will change the way individuals, companies, investors and regulators manage the financial risks of climate change. These risks include physical events, such as changing weather patterns and natural disasters, as...

Research has shown kids can be duped by native advertising. Syda Productions/Shutterstock Young people get a huge amount of their news from social media feeds, where false, exaggerated or sponsored content is often prevalent. With the right tools, caregivers can give...

Disadvantaged neighbourhoods can be a source of stress for young people. Dielok/Flickr, CC BY-SA New research has found growing up in a disadvantaged neighbourhood may have negative effects on children’s brain development. But for males, at least, positive parenting...

Textbooks can be costly. from shutterstock.com Despite 20 years of focus on improving university retention rates, we are still losing one in five of our first-year students. And the release of a new report by TEQSA again reminds us of the challenges of retention. The...

We can encourage people to make healthy adjustments to their diets with simple behaviour techniques. Anas Maarawi/Flickr, CC BY Most of us know what sort of food we should eat to optimise our health and help avoid lifestyle diseases like obesity and heart disease. But...